


City of Dreams

by oscillator



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 09:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/835116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oscillator/pseuds/oscillator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No better place to feel lost than in the City of Dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	City of Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I'm leaving the shipping ambiguous for now, hope you like it!

The line at Starbucks is out the door. She know's looking at her watch every five seconds isn't going to make the line go any faster and just make her more anxious but she can't help it. She's cursing herself for taking too long to get ready this morning making her just miss the J train which she completely forgot was still undergoing construction delays from the day before so instead of waiting just a few minutes for the next one it wasn't until fifteen minutes later that she was actually on her way into the city. 

This starbucks is usually never too busy, especially if she gets there at her usual time just around seven. But fifteen minutes later the coffee shop is filled to the brim, always. She made sure to get speak clearly when it was her turn to order, if she was going to be late she was damn sure she was going to have her boss's order right. She ordered a mocha frapp for herself considering she was already wiping the sweat off her face on her short walk from the subway. She pays and quickly heads over to the side waiting for her orders to be ready going through her work emails making sure she's set for the morning. She needs to be on point, even though she's trying her hardest she can't help but shake the feeling that she's a misstep or two away from getting fired.

"Here you go!" The cute barista gives her her drinks. "I added extra whip," the blonde says smiling brightly. The girl's not necessarily her type but anyone that gives her extra whip and spells her name correctly is definitely someone she's okay flirting with. "Thanks, girl! See you tomorrow...hopefully." 

"She'd be crazy to fire you, stop saying nonsense. See ya!"

It's quarter to eight by the time she steps foot into the building quickly flashing her ID the security guard. "Is she in yet?"

"Nope, you're in luck."

"Ugh thank god. Thanks Barnie! I owe you one."

"For what?"

"Preventing the giant heart attack I was just about to have."

She heads up the elevator to the 57th floor and minutes later the doors open and she sees Amy, the firm's receptionist typing furiously and talking to someone on the phone. She looks up and notices her walking in and quietly whispers, "She just called in, should be up in a few." She smiles big mouthing thank you and rushes through to the main part of the office heading all the way down the hall until she reaches the back office. She sets the drinks down on her desk gets out her key and opens the office. She gathered her boss' coffee puts it on her desk to the left of her keyboard, just how she likes it. She takes a quick look around making sure everything is in order and heads to her desk. In the twenty minutes since she last checked her email she already has ten new ones and she quickly skims them making note of which ones need responses. She finishes checking the voicemail when she hears the clicking of the stilettos walking fiercely down the hall. 

She tries not to pay attention and focuses on looking busy but it's hard not to stare. She's wearing a tweed charcoal dress, draped slightly up top revealing just a small amount of her chest. The dress is form fitting, ending right above her knees finishing the look with soft pink heels at least four inch high. Perfection. Her brown hair is pulled up this morning in a tight yet casual bun and surprisingly she's wearing glasses, hiding her piercing green eyes behind them. She smiles up at her from her desk on the off chance that this time she'll actually say good morning but instead she barks some orders. "Call up the pharmacy, I'm out of contacts. Also set up an appointment with Dr. Buehler." Without even looking up she walks straight past her closing her door behind her. She call's the doctor first and while she's on hold she looks through the binder the previous assistant left hoping there's some clue in there somewhere as to which pharmacy to call, hell what kind of contacts she even uses. 

"Dr. Buehler's office, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm calling to make an appointment for my boss, Hope Solo." She hears clicking on the other end and after a few moments the receptionist responds with a few options as she looks at her calendar cross checking each date. "Next Wednesday at 3pm is perfect." 

"If there's any problems should we call you or your boss?"

"Oh no, you definitely want to call me, she won't even know about the appointment until the day it happens," she laughs. The receptionist joins in as well, "Just like Dr. Buehler, I get it" 

She gives her her cell number and name spelling it out the same way she has since she was a kid. She know's it's not a big deal but she loves her name and loves that it's just a bit different, just like her. "Okay, Kelley with an extra 'e', if there are any problems we'll call." 

By the time she figures out which pharmacy she needs to call it's almost eight thirty and the rest of the lawyers are headed in finally. Hope likes to get to work early and is always one of the last to leave. Which means Kelley is has to be in the office longer than anyone else. It's worth it though all things considered. She wasn't exactly sure what to do with her life after graduating from Stanford. The plan always was soccer, but after she blew out her knee midway through her junior season which lead to unforeseen surgical that left her just lucky to be alive, she focused on school instead. She finished a degree that she cared for but didn't know what to do with and by the time a year after graduating came around she still hadn't found a job she cared for she started to get antsy. So when Christen, her old teammate suggested she move across the country with her she figured why not? She'd miss the beaches and the surfing but they called it the city of dreams for a reason. What better place to find yourself than in New York City?

Christen already had a job working in the communications department of a marketing group, but Kelley had to start from scratch. It was already a month into her move and she still hadn't found anything that made her excited. The job she had in San Francisco paid well enough and she saved up so that she had the liberty to be picky, but she didn't like being unemployed. There are only so many hours of the day you can work out and drinking coffee. It wasn't until week six of her adventure that she finally got somewhere. Christen could tell New York was starting to bring the Georgia peach down and was trying to keep her spirits up. That morning as Christen got ready for work and Kelley was watching Sportscenter already sulking she decided to take matters into her own hand. "Tonight you're coming out with me and my coworkers and there's nothing you can say to get out of it." Kelley groaned as she let herself fall over to her side. "Fineee. You know hanging out with employed people is going to make things worse, right?"

"No it won't Kel, I think this is exactly what you need." She jumps over the couch on top of Kelley and tickles her forcing her to laugh uncontrollably. "There. I haven't seen you smile like that in a while. Today is going to be good, I can feel it." She gets off of her and pats her leg like she's a dog. "Who know's maybe you'll meet your future husband."

"I don't want a husband Press, I want a job!"

That night at the bar she meets Christen's coworkers for the first time. She's deep in conversation with some curly haired girl name Lauren who played soccer at UCLA trying to figure out when they should meet up to play pick up. "I'm always playing with 30 year old latin men with beer bellies," Kelley laments. "Not that I mind, my Spanish had gotten quite good actually. But it would be nice to play some other women. I can only get Christen to come out once a week if I'm lucky." She looks over at Christen who's flirting with some guy at the bar. "I love her but I wish she'd do less cardio at the gym and play with me some more."

"Yeah that sounds awesome, my roommate Amy played at USC and we get together Sunday mornings with a few other girls actually. She's actually going to be here soon, you'll love her." Lauren was right, within five minutes of meeting Amy she was doing her Russian accent and had Kelley kneeling over in laughter. But then the conversation took the dreaded turn that it always does. "So what do you do?" Amy asks. This is why she hates going out. She's always been a social butterfly but she can't help but feel like a loser having to tell every new person she meets how she's unemployed. "I'm currently looking. Just moved here from San Francisco a little over a month ago. I've had offers but nothing that has interested me, I want to do something I love you know?" 

"I know what you mean. I'm actually getting my masters and work as secretary in the mornings at a law firm in midtown. I don't do anything important obviously but last month one of our partners won a huge case against a huge construction company that endangered the welfare of the students at a school they were hired to renovate." 

Kelley remembers reading about this in the paper. Christen made fun of her one day for getting her news only from magazines and bet her that she couldn't read a real paper for a week. Kelley as always unable to back down from a challenge too her head on and once that week ended and Christen had to clean the house the next week she continued. It was nice to be informed. "Wait you work for Pearce, Solo & Wambach? That's awesome! I remember reading about that story. Nice to see the little guys win for once." Amy seemed surprised she knew who they were. "It's not everyday I meet a twenty something who knows of PSW, are you interested in that kind of stuff?" 

"Yeah well my degree in Stanford touched on a lot of subjects but I had a decent focus on environmental sciences. It's definitely something I care about."

"There's actually a position open right now, it's not super special but you'd be the right hand man to one of the greatest lawyers working today. I can set you up with an interview if you're interested."

Kelley thought she might vomit before her named was called up to get interviewed. She had been through what felt like a hundred interviews and none have made her feel like this. Turns out the man interviewing her was a Stanford alum himself and they talked for about twenty minutes before they even got to talking about the job. "I'm going to be honest Miss O'Hara, this job will have to be your life. Hope Solo is great for a reason, she puts in the work, everyday. She doesn't take anyone's bullshit and she'll call you out when you fuck up. Can you handle it?" 

"I can do this. Trust me, I'm tougher than I look." 

"Despite your small freckled stature I'm inclined to agree. When can you start?"

 

"O'HAAARRRRAA"

She quickly finds herself back in reality and rushes into Solo's office. 

"Why hasn't LLoyd gotten back to me about the Washington briefs? We go to court tomorrow I can't have her fucking around. Find out what the hell is holding her up. Now!"

She hustles over to where the junior partners offices and knocks on Lloyd's door. "Hey Carli, Hope wants the Washington briefs, yesterday." Without looking up from her the papers she's furiously annotating she says, "I know! Trust me I've been working my ass off on these. I'll be done in an hour." 

She tells Hope the news, which she's not happy about but she knows what will put her in a better mood. 

"Do you want me to get you lunch?"

 

\---  
She's rushing back from Joe's deli with their lunches listening to Robyn screaming the words to "Standing On My Own" in her head when suddenly she's on the ground in the middle of the road on 5th Avenue.

"Oh my god, shit! Are you okay? Sorry!"

Kelley's in a bit of a daze and is confused about why she think's she's seeing an angel. This beautiful woman helps her up. She has beautiful blue eyes, and long reddish brown hair pulled back into a bun. Her lean muscled legs clearly show through her bike shorts when she realizes this girl is real. "I'm real sorry, I didn't see you!" She pulls her over to the sidewalk and goes back to grab her bike from off the street while cars are beeping at her to move. "Alright, alright! Can't you see I'm fucking moving! Fuck you!" she sticks up her middle finger as the asshole drives away. She's a feisty one, Kelley notes.

Kelley just stares in astonishment, she's still not sure if this is really happening. That's when she notices the food everywhere. "I'm so sorry again!" She reaches into her messenger back and pulls out her wallet. "I know this is a dick move but I'm late on a delivery and I have to walk the rest of the way so here." She shoves a twenty into Kelley's hand and puts on a huge smile. "Sorry for ruining your day." Kelley smiles back, "You didn't ruin anything." The girl nods and grabs her bike and starts walking away.

Thirty minutes later she's finally back in the office with her newly prepared food to give to the wicked witch of midtown. "Where the hell have you been? You left almost an hour ago." 

"Sorry, I was almost here and I got hit by a bike messenger and the food went everywhere so I had to go back." 

"You alright?" For the first time in the five weeks she's been working there Hope actually looks up when she speaks and gets up from around her desk and walks over to her. "You're bleeding." Hope puts her hand on her neck trying to get the hair out of the cut that she has. "I uh...didn't notice." She shivers a bit as Hope inspects her cut. "There's a first aid kit around here somewhere, Amy should know where it is. I think you'll live."

Sporting a nice gauze on her neck she gets back to work when Carli finally strolls by with the briefs. "Here you go. Tell her I said sorry, but I knew they had to be perfect." 

"Thanks, what's so important about this case? I've never seen her so riled up." 

"It's not the case, it's the law firm we're up against." She lowers her voice so that it's barely audible. "Ryan & Associates."

She's heard rumors about some guy named Ryan getting into it with Hope back when she first made partner, when it was just Pearce & Wambach. All she knows for sure is that it was a giant shit storm and although eventually Hope ended up on the other side in one piece, it gave her the reputation she has today- of being a heartless bitch. Something Hope makes a point to be proud of but Kelley's starting to think differently.

Hope doesn't leave the office that night until eight. As she gathers her things to leave she taps on Kelley's desk. "I have to be in court at 9 sharp tomorrow. Make sure nothing gets in the way of that." Kelley nods. "Don't worry about it."

\---

She's already an hour late into meeting Amy, Lauren, and their other roommate Tobin for dinner.

"Dude what is up with your neck?" Tobin says motioning for her to come over so she can check it out.

"I was on the wrong end of a bike crash," Kelley jokes.

"Bike messengers are assholes," Amy chimes in.

"She was actually pretty nice, she did give me a twenty so I could go back and buy the food I dropped everywhere."

"She???" Lauren says excitingly.

"Calm your pants Chensaw, this isn't the beginning of a romantic comedy."

Lauren pretends she didn't hear her. "Was she cute? Did you get her number?"

"Okay yes, she was hot. But she ran off before I could even get a word in. I blame it on the concussion she almost gave me."

"Boo." She takes a sip from her margarita. "You need to get laid. Yesterday."

Amy nods her head in agreement. "Yeah Kelley, we love you but your screws have been a little too tight these past few days. You need someone to loosen them up."

"Don't listen to them Stanford," Tobin says reassuringly. "I think you're awesome. You just need a little footy. It's been forever since you've come out to play with us."

Kelley sighs, "I know man. This case is almost over though. We go to court tomorrow and from what I can tell we're in the home stretch."

\---

As she gets ready for bed she looks in the mirror for the first time really to see what kind of damage the bike messenger actually did. The gash is about an inch long but Hope was right, she'll live. She's still astonished that Hope showed actual human emotions toward her, maybe she's misjudged her afterall. She rubs her hand softly over her gash again. She can't stop thinking about that moment when she was on the ground. Headache aside, she's convinced that girl was part angel.


End file.
